Runners who struggle to break 18-19 minutes for 5km will be amazed to hear about the latest race walking world record by Francesco Fortunato.

Francesco Fortunato sliced nearly 13 seconds off the world indoor record for the 5000m race walk when he clocked 17:54.48 at the Italian Indoor Championships in Ancona on Saturday (Feb 28).

The Italian recorded 17:55.65 at these championships in 2025, but the time was not ratified due to a technical judging issue, which meant Mikhail Shchennikov’s 18:07.08 from 1995 remained the ratified world record.

“I’m satisfied with myself,” said Fortunato. “I came here to try again and I didn’t give up. After the disappointment last year, I felt this was a record I deserved.”